Chapter 2 Excursions

CHAPTER 2

Kate wakes up naked and alone in her bed. “Finally, a man who knows when to leave without being told.” She thinks to herself. She gets up and starts getting ready for the day with a long, hot shower. She dresses in tennis shoes, cargo shorts, and a tank top, brushing her hair up into a high and tight ponytail. Kate quietly leaves her room, so as not to disturb the other passengers and makes her way on deck to enjoy the pool area before the crowds come out.

Taking in the refreshing sea breeze, she slowly strolls around, and eventually takes a seat on one of the loungers by the pool. “Now if only cruises could be like this the entire time…..” She says to herself, taking in a deep breath, realizing that this will probably be her last chance at peace and quiet for the duration of the trip.

An hour later, people begin making their way toward the area, which she takes as her sign that it’s time to head over toward the dining hall for breakfast. She moves through the buffet line getting as much as she can, because she really doesn’t want to brave that crowd again if at all possible, and finds an empty table by a window to sit at and gaze out the window at the sea. Just as she begins to dive in, Mike sits down across from her. “Hope you don’t mind, I thought we could hang out together today. Sorry I had to bolt like that last night. I assumed it was a casual thing and you wouldn’t wanna see my ugly mug first thing in the morning.” he says with a smile.

She gives a small laugh and says, “That’s quite alright. I appreciate the gesture and yes, I’d be happy for you to tag along when it’s time for our excursion. I’ve got a lovely jungle tour planned and I thought I might enjoy some local cuisine beforehand.” Kate takes out her phone and contacts the tour group to add another person to the list. They then proceed to spend the rest of the morning talking and laughing with one another until nearly lunch time.

Around noon, the ship docks at their first port for an excursion. Everyone is lined up and full of excitement to visit a new country, try new and exotic foods, and in some cases, get into all manner of trouble. Kate joins the queue with Mike close by her side. Luke immediately spots her from way behind and tries to yell for her attention, but she ignores him, pretending not to hear over all the commotion.

Once they make it on land, Kate and Mike quickly mingle within the crowd to avoid getting spotted by Luke and his buddies. They manage to sneak into a local restaurant where the pair enjoys a leisurely meal of heavily spiced fried pork with fried plantain chips. After they finish their delightful food, they walk out and revel in the sounds of the local street performers playing music as they go in search of the tour guide they are scheduled to meet.

Mike and Kate make it to the office of the local guide just in time, only to be greeted with a very unwelcome sight. “Ugh… shit shit shit. Could they not have booked an hour at the local brothel or something instead?” Kate asks, as they walk up toward a large group, which includes her new least favorite crew, Luke and all his closest friends.

Mike grabs at her hand, squeezing it. “Relax, I got your back. If they try anything, let me handle it.”

Luke runs up with a huge, dopey smile on his face and pulls Kate into a hug so tight, she struggles to breathe. She shoves him off and says, “Dude, boundaries! Nobody touches me without permission.”

He tilts his head, looking as confused as a dog being told to do a cartwheel, but quickly recovers. “I’m just so happy we get to spend more time together today. I know our date didn’t exactly end the way I had hoped, so it’s great that we get a do over now.” he says.

Mike steps forward and wraps an arm around Kate, kissing her on the cheek then neck. “Sorry man, not happening. I saw the shit you got up to last night, and I decided to take over where you left off. Turns out our girl here really needs to let off some steam. You riled her up good and proper. She was going ALL night long…” Mike says with a devious grin on his face.

Luke gets a shocked look on his face then turns beet red from anger before walking back to his friends with his head hung low. “Thanks for that, I do love it when shitheads get what they deserve.” Kate says to Mike.

Everyone files onto the bus, and they’re driven to a large conservation area. “Ladies and gentlemen, please be careful not to touch or pick up anything. There are animals in this zone that can and will kill you with one bite. Stay on the path and do not stray from the group. We have had people get lost, and it did not end well for them.” The tour guide yells, as the group walks off the bus into the steaming, hot jungle. Monkeys are all over the place, staring at their newest marks, and the local flora appears to have nearly taken over the path, as they walk through.

Twenty minutes into their walk, Jenny starts acting up and telling everyone, “I have to pee. How long ‘til we get to a bathroom?” The tour guide only replies that there are no bathrooms, and that she will just have to hold it. Jenny takes a moment to think, looks around, and decides to sneak behind some trees in the jungle to take care of business.

Kate sees all of this and decides to hang back in case amusement ensues. She watches as Jenny squats down and pulls down her pants, “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you. That’s a venomous snake right by your head” Kate yells at Jenny. Jenny stands up and starts screaming as loud as she can while trying to run with her pants halfway down her legs and urine streaming down as she goes. The entire group stops and stares at the mad woman running around trying to slap off any unknown critters from her body until she trips and flops onto the ground.

Jake runs over and grabs her by the arms saying, “Dude, there’s nothing on you, chill.” She instantly freezes, realizing that every single person there just saw everything she just did. She looks back at the tree she had squatted beside, to confirm if there ever really was a snake, and she spots a green viper sticking it’s head out to investigate the bat-shit-crazy lady making all the fuss.

“Why didn’t you just let the bitch get what she deserves?” Mike quietly asks Kate as they continue on the tour.

“I didn’t wanna have to put a stop to the tour just to drag her ass back to town for a hospital visit.” She says. That tramp may have inconvenienced her by coming on the trip, but she damn sure was not going to let her ruin a perfectly good nature tour. “Let her die on her own damn time.” Kate says with a smirk.

Once everyone is back on the ship, Kate takes the opportunity to sneak off to her room and get cleaned up. A day of hiking through a humid jungle did not bring out the best in her troublesome hair. After a hot shower, she gets dressed in a more casual and comfortable dress and makes her way to the dining room. She grabs her meal and takes a seat alone. Across the room, she can hear the obnoxious laughing of some very annoying and offensive people that she knows. Kate just rolls her eyes and finishes her dinner as quickly as possible.

After dinner, Kate walks outside and leans against the railing as she listens to the waves and watches the sky. She can see nothing down below, but she knows it's a long way down, so she had better be careful so as to not fall overboard. As she begins to reminisce on the day’s adventures, she feels a large presence beside her, “If you’re gonna jump, it's best not to do it when there’s crew members all over the place to rescue you…” She looks up to see a tall, muscular, blonde man with a huge smirk on his face. He’s clearly in uniform.

“Captain Chris Terry at your service, Ma’am.” He says in a smooth Australian accent. She just looks up at him, staring, trying to figure out what exactly he’s trying to get at. “I’ve been watching you here and there. You don’t seem to really fit in much, do you? Your fellow cruisers are all having the time of their lives, getting drunk and partying, and you’re out here all alone, by choice.” He says.

“Ok, what exactly are you getting at here? Are you hinting that you plan to **** me and throw me overboard? Are you some kinda hot stalker?” She asks, having no intention of letting him off easy.

“Look, I can tell you don’t have many friends here, and neither do I, really. You clearly came here to have fun, and I could use some company. Corporate frowns upon us fraternizing with subordinates, and everybody needs some kind of social outlet. What do you say, some good conversation and maybe a roll in the hay, not necessarily in that order?” He replies. “You’re stunning, and I’m an eleven if I do say so myself. It would be a shame not to bring such beauty together...”

Kate looks at him with full scrutiny, trying to decide if he’s secretly a serial killer. “Oh, what the hell, worst case scenario, I go out with a bang, and a girl could do worse than a giant Aussie beefcake.”

She leads him to her cabin, and he starts kissing on her neck and nibbling on her ear as she unlocks the door. Once inside, he pulls her tight to his chest, kissing her deeply then slowly begins to remove his uniform. He turns her around, and unzips her dress, letting it fall to the floor. He pins her to the wall and kisses down her body until he lands on his absolute favorite spot. Chris grabs her legs and pulls her up on his shoulders so he can give her hot zone some very much needed attention. She moans in pleasure as he puts his tongue to good use and eventually stands up and carries her to the bed. His thick rod prods at her as he moves her into position on her back while kissing her. He pushes her into the bed, holding her hands down and starts going at her large breasts with his mouth.

Eventually, she wraps her legs around his waist, and he comes up for more of her luscious lips. He guides his massive erection inside, slowly, pumping in and out until he’s able to fully fit in. He sits up and starts ramming in and out causing Kate to go wild. She squirms and moans as he pounds into her while rubbing her clit. She grabs onto him and flips him onto his back and starts riding him like no tomorrow. They tussle in bed together for the next two hours until they both explode simultaneously for the last time and fall asleep together.

Kate and Captain Chris wake up in each other’s arms. This is the first time in many years that she didn’t absolutely hate the feeling of having someone in her bed in the morning, and even more so, that of a man’s arms wrapped around her after a night of activity. “A girl could get used to this.” She thinks to herself as she takes a moment to appreciate the huge, muscled arms and his face buried into her.

Once the good Captain awakens, he finds her getting out of the shower. They exchange a few words and agree that the night was definitely one they’d both like to repeat at some point. Chris then gets dressed and leaves so that Kate can prepare for a day of relaxation.

She walks down to the pool area in a skimpy, hot pink bikini and lays down on an empty lounge chair in front of the water. She pulls out her phone and headphones and proceeds to turn on an audiobook about debauchery and **** to listen to while working on a light tan. People are splashing and having fun all around her, but she manages to ignore the world by closing her eyes and imagining the story in her head.

Just as she is about to fall asleep, she feels a thin hand on her arm. She startles awake and looks up to find a beautiful, dark-skinned woman trying to get her attention. “Play along!” the woman whispers. The new woman starts stroking at her leg and lightly kisses her lips, just in time for a man to walk up behind her. “Evan, as I was saying, this is my girlfriend…” the woman says.

Kate quickly says, “Hi, I’m Kate, and I’m sorry Honey. I tried to wait for you, but I didn’t want all the chairs to get scooped up.” clearly getting the picture that this woman was being pursued by a man she had zero interest in. The man finally realizes that he won’t be getting any from this girl anytime soon and walks off.

“Thank you so much! That guy was just not taking ‘No’ for an answer. I’m Lucy by the way, Lucy Green.” Says the stunning woman, as she takes her hand away and leans back into the lounge chair beside Kate.

“I’m Kate Long, nice to meet you, although, I would have preferred a less dramatic intro…” Kate says with a smirk on her face. “But overall, not a bad kiss.”

Lucy giggles a bit and says, “I’ll have to keep that in mind….” She then proceeds to talk nearly non-stop about herself to Kate. “So, I just got out of a terrible relationship. I was engaged, but the asshole decided he couldn’t handle only one flavor of ice cream and double dipped, until I found out and dumped his ass. So, I’m REALLY not looking to hook up with just anybody. He’s gotta be absolutely perfect if I’m going to dip my cute little toes in that water” ” Lucy explains. “I decided to book this cruise cause I wanted a fresh start after that horrible ending, and I’ve been saving up all my PTO for years, so I figured, what the hell, why not?”

Just as Lucy was telling Kate about her corporate call center job in Atlanta, Luke climbs out of the pool and stands in front of Kate. “Hey Katie Kat, lookin’ good. Wanna go for a swim with me?” He asks.

“Oh, look at the time, I actually have a massage scheduled in about twenty minutes. I need to rush back to my room and get ready then head over. Their spa is insanely expensive, and I am not about to lose out on a rub down by a hunky massage therapist. Gotta run!” she quickly says as she stands up and darts toward her cabin.

Luke and Lucy watch in confusion as Kate makes a mad dash for her room. “I really hope you caught on there… Baby Girl is just not that into you.” Lucy says to Luke with a smile and walks off.

A few hours later, after a long massage and a brief period in the sauna, Kate finds herself strolling through a section of the ship she hadn’t visited yet, the retail section. She walks through various shops selling overpriced clothing and souvenirs.

She spots a beautiful pink dress that flows toward the floor and can’t help but imagine what she’d look like in it. Definitely not her normal style of black on black, but she always loved all things pink. Just as she starts to walk away, she spots Captain Chris watching her from across the way.

Kate takes her time and saunters over to him, “So, you are a stalker…” she says with amusement. “Well, if you must watch my every step, you best keep up. Come on.” She drags him along the ship and they begin to get to know one another. She explains how she used to be married, but has enjoyed every second of the single life since her divorce. He tells her about how he moved to the states from Australia and found this new gig with a newly started cruise line.

“Don’t tell anyone, but this is our maiden voyage. We’re still working out the kinks, and believe me, there are a lot more kinks than the ones you experienced last night…. Basically, some rich guy with more money than brains decided he could do better than all the big names that have been floating the seas all these years. So, while everything sparkles and glitters, we’re running around figuring shit out on the fly.” He whispers to her in a quiet corner.

“While I’m very glad to hear that I’m the first person to enjoy that big ass bed, I will admit, it’s a little concerning to hear that my safety depends on some trust fund baby’s ability and willingness to listen to reason from what I hope are actual advisors.” she says with a frown on her face. “Oh well, it was cheap, and at least I’m having fun and making new friends, something I don’t often get to do.”

Around dinner time, Chris guides her to a private table in one of the dining rooms. When offered a glass of wine, she says, “No thank you. I actually don’t drink.”

“Well, that’s a new one. Everyone who comes on these things wants to spend the entire time a few bottles deep. It’s refreshing, actually.” Chris says with a warm smile. “So, you’re not a vegetarian, are you? Cause I don’t think I could handle that.” He asks, only half joking.

“Never been one, I like my animals deep fried and tasty.” She says with a laugh. They both proceed to order the Filet Mignon with fries and enjoy a leisurely dinner together. Afterward, they walk back to her cabin, where they spend a passionate night together tangled in the sheets.

Late that night, Chris is startled awake by his radio. He quickly gets up and hears the panicked calls of his crew. They urgently need him back on the bridge. He gets dressed and rushes out the door without so much as a goodbye.